Author Archives: Steve

C-Level Executive Leadership: Making a Difference in Business

As a C-Level Executive, you can really make a difference in business.  Because you are at the height of management, your decisions are crucial to all the other operations of the agency or departments you supervise and develop.When you are a C-Level Executive, it is imperative to keep learning and growing so you can continually evaluate your leadership style and effectiveness to focus on the high level challenges that occur daily in your position.  After all, when you retire, how will you be remembered and what will you leave behind as your legacy?As a C-Level Executive leader, you help to create and improve the environment you lead.  By properly managing talent and using human capital assets, you can further yourself, the agency you lead and boost the potential of the people who work under your leadership.  Besides ensuring the smooth operations of internal processes, you also need to analyze external elements of managing business operations.  For example, your decisions have environmental and social aspects  the decisions you make and you need to consider the type of impact they have on the world around you.By making insightful decisions through gaining valuable knowledge, you can be a C-Level Executive leader who really makes a difference by having a positive impact on the world around you.

When To Drop High School Education from your Resume

Your high school education information should only be included on your resume if you are younger than 20 years old AND have no education or training of any type beyond high school.If you are currently a college student, or have graduated, you may leave your high school off your resume. Replace it with your college data. Even if you haven’t yet graduated, simply list your education like this:

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) – Expected May 2009University of South FloridaHigh school just isn’t that important to employers – especially if you’ve been to college, because if you got into college then you have obviously met the basic requirements for graduating from high school.The only exception might be if the high school you attended was particularly prestigious, and you are applying to employers whom you know to have connections to that high school.If you have not attended any college courses or completed any type of training beyond high school AND you are under the age of 20, then you may include your high school. Once past age 20, however, you should drop the information off your resume, because by then you’ll have gained enough job experience that your high school data will no longer be relevant or important to employers.

Executive Summary: A Critical Element of a Senior Level Resume

When writing a senior-level resume, it is critically important to present yourself in a way that best showcases your unique skills and knowledge.  To do so, develop an “Executive Summary” section on the resume, which is simply a synopsis of your qualifications.The summary is a fast and effective way to hook your reader into looking at the rest of your executive resume.  Without it, employers will have to sift through your entire resume to find out what you can do.It should be composed of three to four short, concise statements that explain why you are the ideal candidate for the job.  Mention anything that you feel will entice the reader; your statements should be powerful but truthful.To help in determining what to write, answer the following questions:

  • How much experience do you have in your field?
  • Do you have a particular achievement or skill that you feel makes you unique?
  • How do you measure up to the standards of success for this position?
  • Why are you a good fit for this position?
  • What personal attributes do you have that would be valued by the employer?
  • What technical skills or other particularly relevant skills (foreign languages, artistic talent, etc.) do you possess?

Most Management Executives Sell Themselves Short on a Resume

Most management executives tend to sell themselves short when seeking a new job, simply because they are unaware of what employers are really looking for on a resume. They focus too much on providing a chronological summary of their experience and accomplishments, assuming employers will see their value – they won’t.The important thing to remember when developing your executive resume is that you must demonstrate to employers why only you would make a perfect fit for the position.Expend more effort focusing on your potential rather than presenting your past. Of course, it’s necessary to list your work history, but do it with an emphasis on what value you can bring to a new employer based on your achievements. In other words, translate your achievements into benefits.Think like an employer. Hiring an executive is a risky proposition, so an employer will want to feel certain that you have the appropriate expertise. Use your executive resume to prove that you have the practical experience to lead an organization through challenging periods, increase market share and establish the groundwork for future business growth.

New Girl On the Job

Combining extensive research and interviews with high-powered female executives and hundreds of women–from college seniors to recent graduates to young women in the workforce–this is a girls guide to the workplace, from etiquette and expectations to wardrobe and war stories.

Should a Graduate Include Research Work on a Resume?

If you are a recent graduate applying for your first job in your field, research work should always be included on your resume. This is because most new graduates have little or no work experience, so employers must rely on a review of your other experiences in order to determine whether your qualifications would be a good match for their open position.It’s up to you to provide them with enough information to make such a decision. To present yourself in the best possible light, include any independent or group research studies with which you have been involved. These experiences can be as important as work experience, because they often demonstrate that you have some practical experience in your chosen field.Just be sure to provide at least a brief description of the research done, the findings, and your role in the project. If applicable, you might mention any specific skills learned or tools used, or methodologies employed.Extensive research can be presented in a separate section on the resume, but if you have only one or two research studies to mention – such as a senior project, for example, you may simply include them underneath your degree information in the education section.

Using Online Job Sites in Your Job Search

Whether you are a graduate looking for your first job, or a seasoned professional searching for a new opportunity, using the Internet is a great way to begin a job search. Using online employment sites offers certain advantages such as easy search-ability, and when the system finds a reasonable match, you are automatically informed. There is a plethora of online job sites, national and regional, that sometimes makes it difficult to know which one to use. You can start by using job search engines, which allow you to search major databases with hundreds and sometimes thousands of employer listings.Finding a new job is hard work and it is usually a full time job in itself. Today, online job sites provide all the tools and services you need to conduct an effective job search and are a superb way to seek out part time or full time jobs, or a summer internship.Tips for Users of Online Job SitesThe Internet provides you with a wealth of profiles of potential employers and you need to do your research well to identify the ones you want to work with. The best would be to pursue the employers who post their jobs directly.Most job sites require you to complete an application form, and either upload your resume or writing in the resume in the space provided. When sending in your resume, make sure that you do not give out a lot of personal information, since this information is posted online for all to see.Look for online job sites that offer resume confidentiality whenever possible, where you can conceal your contact information.When applying for a particular job, always customize your resume for that job specifically. If your resume is lacking in content and quality, pay to have a professional resume writer redo it. It is the best money you can spend to launch your career. It may be less convenient but sending in a customized resume for a particular job is more effective. Some online job sites allow you to contact the recruiter or the employer directly. These are the best sites. You can email your job application and resume directly to the prospective employer or his recruiter, once you feel that you meet all the job requirements.When applying directly to a prospective employer, refer to the job posting to see how to submit your job application. Check the job postings for keywords and relevant experience that you should include in your customized resume. Some prefer submission of your resume through email, whereas some have online application forms. If submission details are not clear, you are usually safe to submit your cover letter and resume via email.

An Entry Level Resume: Tips to Grab An Employer’s Attention

Keywords are an important component of an entry level resume, because they help focus the employer’s attention on your applicable qualifications. Keywords, or buzzwords, are words or phrases that describe your skills, knowledge and abilities. For example, if you are in a technical field, you’ll want to make sure all current technologies with which you are familiar are listed somewhere on the resume.Also, the presentation of your education information is critical. Be sure to place it on the front of your resume, near the top and in reverse chronological order. Place your degree in bolded letters to stand out.Even if you have no work experience, don’t leave your resume empty. Make a list of your volunteer work, internships, extracurricular activities, and other experiences, then figure out which ones relate in some way to your job objective, or which ones may have helped you develop a skill that would be transferable to a job. Examples would be leadership, organizational skills or computer literacy.The thing to remember when it comes to entry level resume writing is that while you want to create a strong resume that represents you well and stands out from the crowd, you don’t want to list everything you’ve ever done. Leave off irrelevant information, and try to tailor your resume to the job posting for which you are applying.